Although this blog is primarily about my work in cybercrime, I thought it would be nice to let you get a peek at the life of a writer, my likes and dislikes, my trips, my family and friends, and more.

Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending.

Monday, March 01, 2010

WHO@ Newsletter - March 1, 2010

I couldn't make this up if I tried. . .Stupid criminalsCops: Fla. thieves overheard after misdialing 911http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100224/ap_on_fe_st/us_accidental911_callPolice say two Florida teenagers are facing charges after 911 dispatchers heard them talking about breaking into cars when one teen's cell phone accidentally called 911 during a heist. Daytona Beach police say 19-year-old Stefanie Vargas and a 13-year-old boy are charged with burglary to a conveyance.

Police spokesman Jimmie Flynt says dispatchers listened as the pair discussed what was worth taking while rummaging though a vehicle parked near a Daytona Beach nightclub early Sunday.

Officers went to the area and spotted the boy inside a vehicle. A police report says the pair tried to flee in a sport utility vehicle driven by Vargas. The report says both admitted to the robbery.

Fraud gang stole dead child's ID - 03/01/10http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/8538413.stmThe mother of a child whose ID was used in a multiple fraud 16 years after he died has spoken of her shock and anger. John Dempsey Hamilton's birth certificate was one of 44 obtained online and used to apply for driving licences with which to open bank accounts and defraud over £20,000.

Facial recognition brings online stalking to the real world - 02/28/10http://dvice.com/archives/2010/02/facial-recognit.phpWhat if you could point your cellphone's camera at someone's face, and then know that person's name, schedule, profile, and latest tweets? That's the promise of Recognizr, an Android app prototype using a 3D model to recognize facial features, find a match on its server, and then superimpose that person's social networking preferences around his or her face.

Janitor allegedly stalked students - 02/28/10http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2010/02/28/4646819.htmA local school janitor faces felony charges after police said he solicited naked images of a student over the Internet, then repeatedly stalked the student and his girlfriend. Walter Edward "Wally" Lucas, 40, of Traverse City, is charged with a single count of using computers to commit a crime, five counts of child sexually abusive activity and one count of stalking a minor.

Strange twist: Exonerated man still in jail while accused free on bail in trooper cyberstalking case - 02/27/10http://www.gastongazette.com/news/gaston-44212-accused-harassing.htmlGaston County’s district attorney dropped a cyberstalking charge against a Belmont man after his neighbor allegedly confessed to borrowing his cell phone and sending harassing text messages to a state trooper.

Klahowya student arrested for posting threatening rap to MySpace - 02/26/10http://www.pnwlocalnews.com/kitsap/ckr/news/85436132.htmlA 14-year-old Klahowya Secondary School student's future as a gangsta rapper may be put on hold after he was arrested for posting a song to his myspace.com account, complete with threats to students and school staff.

Craigslist prank leads to legal trouble - 02/26/10http://www.thereporteronline.com/articles/2010/02/26/news/doc4b882d7265ba2519262747.txtA Craigslist prank that targeted a Berks woman ended with legal troubles for a Bucks County man. Kenneth Ryan Silcox, 36, of Hilltop Road, Warminster, pleaded guilty in Montgomery County Court to a summary harassment charge in connection with an October 2008 incident during which he allegedly created a fake Craigslist personal ad in the name of a Kutztown woman, who then received unwanted calls from strange men.

School shows off its laptop surveillance tactics - 02/26/10http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-10460729-71.html"This kid looks like they're editing their MySpace page." So declares an assistant principal at Intermediate School 339 in the Bronx borough of New York, a "former technology coach" (PDF) named Dan Ackerman (but not to be confused with CNET's Dan Ackerman). You might imagine that he's wandering around a classroom looking over kids' shoulders as they fiddle about on their laptops. You might imagine, then, that storks deliver milk as well as babies.

Gossip Gone Viral! - 02/24/10http://www.thepacifican.com/new/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2588&Itemid=100015Recent studies have indicated that Internet users with female screen names receive 25 times more malicious feedback and negative comments than those with male names. This statistic further applies to chat rooms, message boards, and networking sites, making it apparent that the Internet is becoming a free-for-all where people can make vicious, unwarranted falsities about their peers.

Her Facebook status changed to "single?" Ur dumped - 02/23/10http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100223/od_nm/us_technology_relationshipsDigital dumping is on the rise, according to a survey, with growing numbers of people preferring to use email and social networking Web sites to break up with their partners. Over one third of 2,000 people polled (34 percent) said they had ended a relationship by email, 13 percent had changed their status on Facebook without telling their partners and six percent had released the news unilaterally on Twitter.

It's a Crime: The law on harassment - 02/23/10http://www.chestertontribune.com/PoliceFireEmergency/23102%20its_a_crime_the_law_on_harassmen.htmHere’s how a Chesterton Police officer spent part of her shifts last week. At 9:36 a.m. on Monday, according to the officer’s initial report, a woman filed a complaint against her ex-boyfriend­with whom she’d broken up on Saturday­after he “harassed her extensively via telephone over the past 24 hours” and sent her as well a total of 46 texts.

About Me

I'm a cyber crime expert and author of 8 books, soon to be 9! Although writing is my passion, cyber crime pays the bills. I give online safety lectures worldwide to students from 4th grade on up through college/university, as well as providing law enforcement training and speaking at various conferences as keynote.